From providing vital IT services in Iraq, Nigeria and Yemen to supporting preparedness activities in the Pacific and Caribbean regions, the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) was highly active in 2018. Here's a brief overview of what we did and where we were last year. ​Have a look at the ETC annual infographic.

Firstly, CERF is the first and aspires to continue to be the fastest. It was the first contributor to the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo in March/April this year. Just a few days after the massive influx of Rohingya to Cox’s Bazar from 25th August last year, CERF was one of the first to make an allocation. And CERF was one of the first to leverage funds for the hurricanes in the Caribbean last September.

Throughout 2017, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) supported relief operations in 36 countries to ensure delivery of urgent aid to millions of people in desperate need.

CERF’s 2017 Annual Report, launched today, provides a detailed account of how, during the year, CERF and its partners ensured strategic use of almost $420 million in donor contributions to deliver the highest priority aid, where and when it was need the most.

DTM flow monitoring data compiled from national authorities and IOM offices show that the number of arrivals through Mediterranean routes between January and March 2018 is half the number of arrivals in the same period in 2017. In the first quarter of 2018 a total of 1,956 migrants and asylum seekers arrived in Europe using different land and sea routes, in comparison to 34,531 registered in the first quarter of 2017. As previously reported, the decrease is mainly due to the drop in arrivals in Italy.

From January to December 2017 the Logistics Cluster has supported 512 organisations, including national and international NGOs, UN agencies, foundations, civil society organisations and government agencies across 13 operations.

As at end December 2017, UN-coordinated appeals and refugee response plans within the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) required US$24.7 billion to meet the humanitarian needs of 105.1 million crisis-affected people in 38 countries. Together the appeals were funded at $13.8 billion, or 54% of requirements. Funding for the appeals in 2017 fell 46% short of requirements, with $10.9 billion outstanding.

Is the world’s most comprehensive, authoritative and evidence-based assessment of humanitarian needs;

Is based on detailed analysis of wide-ranging data from many different sources, and face-to-face interviews with hundreds of thousands of people directly affected by humanitarian crises across the globe;